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Beard care products won't affect manliness

beard care, Afghanistan military unit

A U.S. military unit in Afghanistan allowed to grow beards sent this photo to Bluebeards Original in Exton, Pa., thanking the company for its beard care products. The T-shirt on the left shows the Bluebeards Original logo, and the black one on the right quotes William Shakespeare: "He that hath no beard is less than a man."
(Bluebeards Original)

By contrast, today's beards have available to them an array of lotions and conditioners never before known ... at least to me before a January article in The New York Times explored contemporary beard styling and taming techniques.

Among them was Beard Saver, a daily skin and facial hair lotion from Exton, Pa.-based Bluebeards Original, which also makes beard washes and conditioners.

"Our slogan is don't shave it, maintain it," says Paul Kaniewski, who founded Bluebeards with his wife in 2005 to combat his itchy beard. The products use various oils and natural ingredients to soften facial hair and protect skin.

But as a guy who sports a beard (and, occasionally, a Movember mustache), I was skeptical about these developments in beard care. In a world where men set their trimmers to 3 and call it a week, where an all-in-one bottle of shampoo and body wash is the sole item in the shower, could a conditioner for the face really catch on without reducing the user's "man card" to a coupon for Bed, Bath & Beyond?

"I've got guys over in Afghanistan in military units ... and they're asking for our stuff," Kaniewski says about his products' preservation of bearded manliness. "If you've got military men using your stuff, I don't think you have to worry about it."

Among the biggest fans of beard care products, Kaniewski says, are the "tough-looking guys," like bikers and competitive beard-growers.

"These guys have spent years growing out their beards and they want to take care of it," he says.

Beard Team USA, which hosts national championships for facial hair (and which Bluebeards sponsors), advertises on its website that "unlike some sporting organizations, (it) encourages the use of performance 'enhancing' substances."

"There is a lot of great stuff out there. There are a lot of people that use products in their beards, some more then others," he says. "I don't think there is any sort of man-cred at stake when it comes to what makes your beard look and feel better."

So macho military men and competitive tough guys can and do use beard care products with no impact to their already impressive masculinity. But what about those of us who simply keep a little scruff, either out of laziness or to stand out among the crowd competing for a pretty woman's attention at the bar?

It turns out she likes a well-conditioned beard, too, Kaniewski says.

"A lot of buyers are girls buying stuff for their husbands or boyfriends" to cut down on their man's "Brillo pad," Kaniewski says, adding the guys usually end up becoming return customers, though they are decidedly less effective at scouring pans.

"It's taking care of yourself and taking pride in how you look," he says.

If that's the case, I suppose I can keep a second bottle in the shower.